Force Is Only Proper Option if Iraq Refuses to Budge

Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress say they support taking forceful action against Iraq if Saddam Hussein continues trying to bar American weapons inspectors, a sign that President Clinton can count on bipartisan backing should he be obliged to use military means in this developing international confrontation. Nothing less than steadiness and firmness by the U.N. Security Council is needed now. That 15-member body has insisted once again that Iraq comply with council resolutions. But, at the same time, official comments have cast doubt on the willingness of France and Russia--each of which has a veto on the council--to approve the use of force to compel compliance. Hussein continues doing his best to exploit that reluctance as he goes on defying the council’s will; on Monday he threatened to shoot down a reconnaissance plane used by the inspectors.

As always, diplomacy is the first tool of choice in trying to resolve a crisis, and to that end U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent a three-member mission to Baghdad to talk things over. But if the Iraqi dictator insists on trying to negotiate with the diplomats--or, worse, if they agree to negotiate with him, to implicitly accept that he has a legitimate grievance and to offer concessions--the mission will have failed.

For it’s as true today as it was a week ago, when Iraq first announced that it would refuse to accept Americans on the international inspection teams, that there is literally nothing to negotiate. Iraq must comply with the resolutions passed by the Security Council after it invaded Kuwait in 1990, including cooperating with the inspectors who are trying to make sure its nuclear, chemical and germ warfare capabilities have been destroyed. Iraq cannot choose who will be on the inspection teams. Neither can it be permitted any longer to try to dictate where the inspectors may look for signs of cheating.

U.N. officials are convinced Iraq is hiding germ weapons capable of killing hundreds of thousands. The vital task of the inspection teams is to find and destroy these terror weapons. Unless they are allowed to do so, the Security Council has no choice--if its credibility is to stand--but to approve whatever measures may be required, including military options, to force compliance with its resolutions.